Probong Probation, ctd.

Michael Levenson reports on the Senate's proposed probation reforms.

The Senate plan would impose a five-year term limit on the probation commissioner and require the chief justice for administration and management to approve the commissioner’s hiring and firing decisions. It would also give the justice power over 5 percent of the Probation Department’s budget — a symbolic amount designed to provide at least some control over the department’s purse strings.

Massachusetts Elections 2010 has more.

There have been many articles written on the patronage problem in recent years. It’s a common theme for Howie Carr, and there have been investigative articles all year.

The patronage jobs problem has existed in Massachusetts for so long, and become so ingrained that most on Beacon Hill had forgotten it was not only immoral, but illegal. From the Legislature, to the Attorney General, to even the courts themselves – no action has been taken – because it’s the way business has been done on Beacon Hill for decades.

ME2010 also notes that reforms will pass in the Senate, but Speaker DeLeo's House will kill them.
Monica Brady-Myerov reports that more transparency in the Probation Department is being called for.